Page 2B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Thursday, June 7, 2018
Dynasty’s doorstep: Warriors
take 3-0 lead over Cavs in Finals
By TOM WITHERS
Associated Press
Mark Ylen/Albany Democrat-Herald via AP, File
Oregon State pitcher Luke Heimlich throws during
an NCAA college baseball game against UC Davis
in Corvallis, Ore. Oregon State pitcher Luke Heim-
lich, who as a teenager pleaded guilty to molesting
a 6-year-old relative, was not selected in the Major
League Baseball draft for the second straight year,
Wednesday, June 6, 2018.
OSU’s Heimlich goes
undrafted again as teams
pass on troubled past
By DENNIS WASZAK JR.
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Oregon
State pitcher Luke Heim-
lich, who as a teenager
pleaded guilty to molesting
a 6-year-old relative, was
not selected in the Major
League Baseball draft for
the second straight year.
Heimlich is a two-time
Pac-12 pitcher of the year
and is regarded as one of
college baseball’s top play-
ers, but his troubled past
has given big league teams
pause.
The 22-year-old left-
hander was expected to be
drafted in the early rounds
last year until The Orego-
nian reported last June that
Heimlich admitted to the
crime when he was 15. He
did not play for Oregon
State last year in the sec-
ond round of the NCAA
Tournament or the College
World Series.
Heimlich
recently
insisted in stories by Sports
Illustrated and The New
York Times he was actu-
ally innocent and said he
pleaded guilty because of
poor legal advice — to
avoid the possibility of jail
time and prevent further
stress for the girl.
“Nothing ever hap-
pened,” he told the Times,
“so there is no incident to
look back on.”
In an interview with the
Times, the girl’s mother
said “there is no way he
didn’t do it.”
The three-day draft con-
cluded Wednesday night,
with 1,214 players selected
— but not Heimlich.
The Oregon State star is
15-1 with a 2.42 ERA and
142 strikeouts against just
25 walks in 111 2/3 innings
this season. The Beavers
are hosting Minnesota in
the super regionals start-
ing Friday, with the winner
of the best-of-three series
advancing to the College
World Series in Omaha,
Nebraska. Heimlich, who
is 26-2 over the last two
seasons, is expected to
pitch against the Golden
Gophers.
SIGNINGS: Luna
made decision to stay
close to family
Continued from 1B
munity College into play-
ing not only basketball at
the collegiate level, but
also softball. While joining
the Storm’s softball team is
still in the works, it’s what
factored into the late deci-
sion to commit to the col-
lege nestled in Hayesville,
just outside of Salem.
“I already had my plans
(to go to Pacific),” Burns
said. “Then, the coach con-
tacted (girls basketball
head coach Mike) Royer,
and I was kind of like,
‘Ehhh,’ because it was just
for basketball and then
Royer mentioned to him
I was really into softball
too.”
Athletically, the choice
was made and on top of
that Chemeketa offered
Burns a scholarship that
would cover two terms,
which was something she
could not pass up.
Burns plans on major-
ing in exercise science and
later becoming a physical
therapist.
The two-year com-
munity college will give
Burns a start at her future
career goals, but also help
with the indecision of pick-
ing between basketball and
softball.
The time spent in the
South Region of the North-
west Athletic Conference
should ease that choice
later down the road, Burns
added.
Burns is joined by
Olivia Luna and Adrian
Roa on the list of athletes
from the Class of 2018
to further their athletic
careers. Both Luna and
Roa already signed their
Letters of Intent, and Luna
was also in attendance
Tuesday to support team-
mate Burns, and share her
excitement in taking the
next step — a dream that
wasn’t realized until just
her junior year.
“I love the sport, so I
just want to play,” Luna
said.
Luna has been playing
soccer ever since she was
young girl growing up in
Mexico, and after moving
to Oregon just five years
ago, she found solace in
the sport she loved.
“I felt more involved
and everything,” Luna
said.
Added football and soft-
ball coach Steve Sheller,
who has seen her transfor-
mation in the classroom
as well: “The growth of
Olivia Luna from fresh-
man year to senior year is
incredible. She is a walk-
ing example of the good
stuff going on at Irrigon
High School.”
Luna contacted Blue
Mountain
Community
College first, went to try-
outs and made the deci-
sion to stay close to fam-
ily to continue her soccer
career. She will be joining
the Timberwolves wom-
en’s soccer team with the
likes of Hermiston’s Heidi
Fuentes and BMCC first-
year head coach Jordan
Hillmick.
———
Contact Alexis at aman-
sanarez@eastoregonian.
com or 541-564-4542.
Follow her on Twitter @
almansanarez.
CLEVELAND — Kevin
Durant pushed the Golden
State Warriors to dynasty’s
doorstep.
LeBron James may be at
the door.
Durant scored 43 points,
draining a long 3-pointer in
the final minute to cap his
magnificent
performance,
and the Golden State War-
riors defeated James and the
Cleveland Cavaliers 110-102
in Game 3 of the NBA Finals
on Wednesday night to move
within a victory of a sweep,
their second straight title and
third championship in four
years.
No team has ever over-
come a 3-0 deficit in the NBA
playoffs.
It might be time to order
some champagne from Napa
Valley.
With the Cavs within 103-
100, Durant stood motionless
after dropping his 33-footer,
which effectively ended the
fourth straight finals matchup
between two teams who have
gotten to know each other well
since 2015.
“That was amazing what
he did out there tonight,” War-
riors coach Steve Kerr said.
“Some of those shots, I don’t
think anybody in the world
can hit those but him. He was
incredible.”
Golden State will now
have four chances to wrap up
its title starting with Game 4
on Friday night.
James scored 33 points
and Kevin Love added 20
for the Cavs, who have fallen
into a hole in which no team
has ever emerged. Cleveland
came back from a 3-1 defi-
cit to stun the Warriors in the
2016 NBA Finals, but that was
when Durant was in Okla-
homa City and James had a
different supporting cast.
The Warriors won despite a
3-of-16 shooting performance
from Stephen Curry, who did
come up big down the stretch
as the Cavs were trying to sal-
vage their season.
Now Cleveland could be
down to one final game with
James. The three-time cham-
pion can opt out of his $35.6
million contract and test free
agency this summer, and it
may be time for the 33-year-
old to find a team capable of
beating the Warriors.
Durant, who tilted this
AP Photo/Carlos Osorio
Golden State Warriors’ Kevin Durant is defended by Cleveland Cavaliers’ George Hill
during the second half of Game 3 of basketball’s NBA Finals.
rivalry toward the West Coast
when he signed with the War-
riors as a free agent before last
season, was brilliant from the
start. He helped offset a rough
night for Curry, who made
a finals-record nine 3-point-
ers in Game 2, but was just 1
of 10 from behind the arc and
didn’t score his second field
goal until there were under
three minutes left.
Curry’s scoop shot put the
Warriors up 98-97 and defen-
sive specialist Andre Iguodala,
who didn’t play in Games 1
or 2 because of a knee injury,
came up with a steal under the
basket. Curry finally buried
a 3 and after James matched
him with a long shot, Iguodala
drove the lane for a thundering
dunk.
Moments later, Durant
delivered his dagger to silence
Cleveland’s crowd.
“The shot clock was run-
ning down, I was pretty far
out, I just wanted to get a
look,” Durant said. “I didn’t
want to run there and shoot a
bad shot, fall on the ground
and they got numbers going
the other way so I decided to
pull up.”
James made a layup to pull
the Cavs within four, it was too
little too late as the Warriors
closed it out and beat Cleve-
land for the fourth straight
time in finals games.
With JaVale McGee get-
ting three point-blank shots at
the rim, the Warriors opened
the third quarter with a 9-3
spurt and it wasn’t long before
they took their first lead on
Curry’s two free throws.
Durant scored 24 in the
first half, when the Warriors
attempted 13 free throws to
zero for the Cavs, a disparity
that induced further wrath on
the officials from Cleveland
fans still stinging from the
now infamous reversed call in
Game 1.
The Cavs needed a strong
start, and they got it helped
by a playground move from
James.
Dribbling near the foul
lane, he used a head fake on
McGee before stepping past
the Warriors center. James then
threw the ball off the back-
board to himself and crushed a
two-handed dunk — he pulled
off a similar stunt in last year’s
Finals — that sent Cleveland’s
bench and fans into a frenzy.
As coach Tyronn Lue had
hoped, Cleveland was more
physical and won several
50-50 balls while outrebound-
ing and outworking the War-
riors, who spent much of the
first half barking about the
officiating.
The problem, though, was
that the Cavs couldn’t stop
Durant. He wouldn’t allow
Cleveland to pull too far ahead
and the superstar made up for
an ineffective Curry.
James arrived at 6 p.m.
dressed more casually — cam-
ouflage pants, purple hoodie,
“Billionaire Boys Club” base-
ball cap — than on the road
where he and the Cavs have
been wearing suits during the
postseason.
Everything is more relaxed
and familiar at home for James
and his teammates, who were
counting on a return to their
own noisy building, where
they play better and shoot bet-
ter, to get them back into the
series.
The Warriors had other
plans.
TIP-INS
Warriors: Draymond Green
passed Wilt Chamberlain
(922) for the most rebounds
in Warriors playoff history.
... Thompson played in his
NBA-high 390th game over
the last four seasons. Green is
second with 387, while James
is third at 381. ... Green and
Thompson, who have tangled
all series, were both slapped
with technical following an
exchange in the first quarter. ...
Cavaliers: James (238)
broke a tie with Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar and moved into
fourth place for the most play-
off games. Only Derek Fisher
(259), Tim Duncan (251) and
Robert Horry (244) have made
most postseason appearances.
... Abdul-Jabbar attended the
game and got a rousing ova-
tion when introduced in the
third quarter. .... There was an
awkward moment at the start
of Lue’s pregame news con-
ference when he was asked
by a foreign reporter who he
expected to be the key player
in Game 3. “LeBron James, I
guess,” he said with a laugh.
UP NEXT
Game 4 is Friday night.
SCOREBOARD
Basketball
NBA FINALS
Golden State 3, Cleveland 0
(Best-of-7; x-if necessary)
Thursday, May 31: Golden State 124,
Cleveland 114
Sunday, June 3: Golden State 122,
Cleveland 103
Wednesday: Golden State 110, Cleveland
102
Friday: Golden State at Cleveland, 6 p.m.
x-Monday, June 11: Cleveland at Golden
State winner, 6 p.m.
x-Thursday, June 14: Golden State winner
at Cleveland, 6 p.m.
x-Sunday, June 17: Cleveland at Golden
State winner, 5 p.m.
WNBA
EASTERN CONFERENCE
W
L Pct GB
Connecticut
5
1 .833 —
Washington
5
3 .625
1
Atlanta
3
3 .500
2
Chicago
3
3 .500
2
New York
2
3 .400 2½
Indiana
0
6 .000
5
WESTERN CONFERENCE
W
L Pct GB
Los Angeles
4
1 .800 —
Seattle
5
2 .714 —
Phoenix
5
3 .625
½
Dallas
3
3 .500 1½
Minnesota
2
5 .286
3
Las Vegas
1
5 .167 3½
———
Wednesday’s Games
No games scheduled.
Thursday’s Games
Minnesota at Washington, 1 p.m.
Connecticut at New York, 4 p.m.
Seattle at Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m.
Hockey
NHL
STANLEY CUP
(Best-of-7; x-if necessary)
Washington 3, Vegas 1
Monday, May 28: Vegas 6, Washington 4
Wednesday, May 30: Washington 3,
Vegas 2
Saturday, June 2: Washington 3, Vegas 1
Monday: Washington 6, Vegas 2
Thursday, June 7: Washington at Vegas,
5 p.m.
x-Sunday, June 10: Vegas at Washington,
5 p.m.
x-Wednesday, June 13: Washington at
Vegas, 5 p.m.
Baseball
MLB
AMERICAN LEAGUE
East Division
W
L
Boston
43 19
New York
40 18
Tampa Bay
28 32
Toronto
26 35
Baltimore
19 41
Central Division
W
L
Cleveland
32 28
Detroit
29 34
Minnesota
26 32
Chicago
20 39
Kansas City
21 41
West Division
W
L
Seattle
38 23
Houston
38 25
Los Angeles
35 28
Oakland
31 31
Texas
27 37
Pct GB
.694 —
.690
1
.467 14
.426 16½
.317 23
Pct GB
.533 —
.460 4½
.448
5
.339 11½
.339 12
Pct GB
.623 —
.603
1
.556
4
.500 7½
.422 12½
———
Wednesday’s Games
Washington 11, Tampa Bay 2
Baltimore 1, N.Y. Mets 0
Cleveland 3, Milwaukee 1
N.Y. Yankees 3, Toronto 0, 13 innings
Boston 7, Detroit 1
Texas 8, Oakland 2
Chicago White Sox 5, Minnesota 2
Houston 7, Seattle 5
L.A. Angels 4, Kansas City 3
Thursday’s Games
Chicago White Sox (Shields 1-6) at Minne-
sota (Berrios 6-5), 10:10 a.m.
Baltimore (Hess 2-2) at Toronto (Garcia
2-4), 4:07 p.m.
Detroit (Boyd 3-4) at Boston (Beeks 0-0),
4:10 p.m.
Seattle (Leake 5-3) at Tampa Bay (Stanek
1-1), 4:10 p.m.
Houston (Cole 6-1) at Texas (Hamels 3-5),
5:05 p.m.
Kansas City (Hammel 2-5) at Oakland
(Montas 2-0), 7:05 p.m.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
East Division
W
L Pct GB
Washington
35 25 .583 —
Atlanta
36 26 .581 —
Philadelphia
32 27 .542 2½
New York
27 32 .458 7½
Miami
22 39 .361 13½
Central Division
W
L Pct GB
Milwaukee
37 25 .597 —
Chicago
34 24 .586
1
St. Louis
32 27 .542 3½
Pittsburgh
31 30 .508 5½
Cincinnati
21 41 .339 16
West Division
W
L Pct GB
Arizona
32 29 .525 —
Colorado
32 29 .525 —
San Francisco
31 31 .500 1½
Los Angeles
30 31 .492
2
San Diego
29 35 .453 4½
———
Wednesday’s Games
Washington 11, Tampa Bay 2
Baltimore 1, N.Y. Mets 0
Cleveland 3, Milwaukee 1
San Diego 3, Atlanta 1
San Francisco 5, Arizona 4, 10 innings
Pittsburgh 11, L.A. Dodgers 9
Colorado 6, Cincinnati 3
Chicago Cubs 7, Philadelphia 5
Miami 11, St. Louis 3
Thursday’s Games
Colorado (Anderson 3-1) at Cincinnati
(Mahle 4-6), 9:35 a.m.
L.A. Dodgers (Santana 1-0) at Pittsburgh
(Taillon 3-4), 9:35 a.m.
Miami (Richards 0-2) at St. Louis (Mikolas
6-1), 10:15 a.m.
Philadelphia (Pivetta 4-4) at Chicago Cubs
(Chatwood 3-4), 11:20 a.m.
NCAA
Men’s Baseball Tournament
Super Regionals
Best-of-3; x-if necessary
Host school is home team for Game 1;
visiting school is home team for Game
2; coin flip determines home team for
Game 3
CHAPEL HILL SUPER REGIONAL
Friday, June 8: North Carolina (41-18) vs.
Stetson (48-11), 8 a.m.
Saturday, June 9: North Carolina vs.
Stetson, 9 a.m.
x-Sunday, June 10: North Carolina vs.
Stetson, 9 a.m.
NASHVILLE SUPER REGIONAL
Friday, June 8: Vanderbilt (34-25) vs.
Mississippi State (35-26), 5 p.m.
Saturday, June 9: Vanderbilt vs. Mississip-
pi State, 6:30 p.m.
x-Sunday, June 10: Vanderbilt vs. Missis-
sippi State, 3 p.m.
CORVALLIS SUPER REGIONAL
Friday, June 8: Oregon State (47-10-1) vs.
Minnesota (44-13), 2 p.m.
Saturday, June 9: Oregon State vs. Min-
nesota, 6:30 p.m.
x-Sunday, June 10: Oregon State vs.
Minnesota, 6 p.m.
FULLERTON SUPER REGIONAL
Friday, June 8: Cal State Fullerton (35-23)
vs. Washington (33-23), 11 a.m.
Saturday, June 9: Cal State Fullerton vs.
Washington, 3:30 p.m.
x-Sunday, June 10: Cal State Fullerton vs.
Washington, 6 p.m.
GAINESVILLE SUPER REGIONAL
Saturday, June 9: Florida (45-18) vs.
Auburn (42-21), 9 a.m.
Sunday, June 10: Florida vs. Auburn, 9
a.m.
x-Monday, June 11: Florida vs. Auburn,
5:30 p.m.
FAYETTEVILLE SUPER REGIONAL
Saturday, June 9: Arkansas (42-18) vs.
South Carolina (36-24), 3:30 p.m.
Sunday, June 10: Arkansas vs. South
Carolina, 12 p.m.
x-Monday, June 11: Arkansas vs. South
Carolina, 4 p.m.
LUBBOCK SUPER REGIONAL
Saturday, June 9: Texas Tech (42-17) vs.
Duke (44-16), 12 p.m.
Sunday, June 10: Texas Tech vs. Duke,
3 p.m.
x-Monday, June 11: Texas Tech vs. Duke,
1 p.m.
AUSTIN SUPER REGIONAL
Saturday, June 9: Texas (40-20) vs. Ten-
nessee Tech (52-10), 12 p.m.
Sunday, June 10: Texas vs. Tennessee
Tech, 12 p.m.
x-Monday, June 11: Texas vs. Tennessee
Tech, 10 a.m.
Soccer
MLS
EASTERN CONFERENCE
W L T Pts GF GA
Atlanta United FC 9 3 2 29 30 18
New York City FC 8 3 3 27 29 19
Columbus
7 3 5 26 21 13
New York
7 4 1 22 27 14
New England
6 4 4 22 24 20
Orlando City
6 6 1 19 22 23
Philadelphia
5 6 3 18 16 19
Chicago
5 7 2 17 20 25
Montreal
4 10 0 12 15 29
Toronto FC
3 7 2 11 17 23
D.C. United
2 5 3 9 14 18
WESTERN CONFERENCE
W L T Pts GF GA
Sporting K.C.
8 2 4 28 28 14
FC Dallas
7 1 5 26 22 14
Real Salt Lake
7 6 1 22 19 26
Los Angeles FC 6 4 3 21 25 21
Portland
6 3 3 21 20 18
Vancouver
5 5 5 20 21 28
Houston
5 5 3 18 27 21
LA Galaxy
5 7 2 17 19 23
Minnesota United 5 8 1 16 17 26
San Jose
2 8 3 9 19 25
Seattle
2 7 2 8 7 14
Colorado
2 8 2 8 14 22
NOTE: Three points for victory, one point
for tie.
———
Monday-Thursday’s Games
No games scheduled.
Friday’s Games
Toronto FC at Philadelphia, 5 p.m.
Tennis
FRENCH OPEN
Wednesday’s Results
Men’s Singles
Quarterfinals
Diego Schwartzman (11), Argentina, leads
Rafael Nadal (1), Spain, 6-4, 3-5 (30-15),
susp., rain.
Marin Cilic (3), Croatia, and Juan Martin
del Potro (5), Argentina, 6-6 (5-5), susp.,
rain.
Women’s Singles
Quarterfinals
Simona Halep (1), Romania, def. Angeli-
que Kerber (12), Germany, 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-2.
Garbine Muguruza (3), Spain, def. Maria
Sharapova (28), Russia, 6-2, 6-1.
Men’s Doubles
Quarterfinals
Nicolas Mahut, France and Pierre-Hugues
Herbert (6), France, def. Maximo Gonzalez,
Argentina and Nicolas Jarry, Chile, 6-4,
7-6 (8).
Women’s Doubles
Quarterfinals
Makoto Ninomiya, Japan and Eri Hozumi,
Japan, def. Kristina Mladenovic, France and
Timea Babos (1), Hungary, 7-6 (4), 6-3.
Barbora Strycova, Czech Republic and An-
drea Sestini Hlavackova (2), Czech Republic,
def. Katarina Srebotnik, Slovenia and Lara
Arruabarrena-Vecino, Spain, 6-3, 6-1.
Mixed Doubles
Semifinals
Ivan Dodig, Croatia and Latisha Chan (2),
Taiwan, def. Robert Farah, Colombia and
Anna-Lena Groenefeld (8), Germany, 4-6,
7-5, 10-8.
Golf
PGA Tour
FEDEX ST. JUDE CLASSIC
Site: Memphis, Tenn.
Course: TPC Southwind. Yardage: 7,244.
Par: 70.
Purse: $6.6 million. Winner’s share:
$1,188,000.
Television: Thursday-Friday, 4-7 p.m. (Golf
Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 1-2:45 p.m.
(Golf Channel); 3-6 p.m. (CBS).
Defending champion: Daniel Berger.
Last week: Bryson DeChambeau won the
Memorial.
FedEx Cup leader: Justin Thomas.
LPGA Tour
SHOPRITE LPGA CLASSIC
Site: Galloway, N.J.
Course: Stockton Seaview Hotel and GC
(Bay Course). Yardage: 6,177. Par: 71.
Purse: $1.75 million. Winner’s share:
$262,500.
Television: Friday, 1:30-3:30 p.m. (Golf
Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 3-5 p.m. (Golf
Channel).
Defending champion: I.K. Kim.
Last week: Ariya Jutanugarn won the U.S.
Women’s Open.
Race to CME Globe leader: Ariya
Jutanugarn.
Auto Racing
NASCAR
FIREKEEPS CASINO 400
Site: Brooklyn, Michigan.
Schedule: Friday, practice, 11:30 a.m.
(FS2), qualifying, 4:10 p.m. (FS2); Saturday,
practice, 9 a.m. (FS1), practice 12 p.m.
(FS2); Sunday, race, 2 p.m., FOX.
Track: Michigan International Speedway
(oval, 2 miles).
Race distance: 400 miles, 200 laps.
Last year: Kyle Larson won his second
race of 2017.
Last race: Defending champion Martin
Truex Jr. picked up his second victory of
the season.